


Epilogue: Noses and Knowing

by CC99trialanderrorgirl



Series: Nose Ring 'Verse [2]
Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: Fluffy, Happy, M/M, Nathan Stark has a nose ring, Nathan proposes, Nose Ring, The Gangs All Here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22293412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CC99trialanderrorgirl/pseuds/CC99trialanderrorgirl
Summary: Nathan Stark has two secrets: he has a nose ring, and he's dating Jack Carter. But secrets don't stay secret in Eureka for long...
Relationships: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Series: Nose Ring 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604704
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	Epilogue: Noses and Knowing

Exactly three weeks later, Nathan is standing in his living room, in nothing but his shirttails, socks, and boxers. His hair unmistakably mussed and his nose ring is firmly in place for all to see. Behind him, Jack is spluttering nonsense and clutching a blanket around his naked torso. At least _he’s_ still wearing pants.

There are two glasses of scotch on Nathan’s kitchen table, and both of their keys and wallets are thrown right on top. Jack’s gun belt is responsibly secured underneath the counter.

Which is a pity, because he’d really like to shoot someone right now.

Fargo squawks from the entryway. Nathan closes his eyes slowly, counts to five backwards, and prays for a miracle.

“Nathan?” It’s Allison’s voice.

So no miracle, then.

“Ali-“ he starts, but then a third voice sounds.

“Nathan? Jack?” Henry sounds confused and amused all at once.

Nathan clenches his jaw.

“Dr. Stark,” Fargo pipes up again, “what’s that on your nose?” He’s pointing to the red metallic ring, and well, there’s no way anyone is going to miss it now.

Nathan sees red, and Jack takes one hand off is death grip on the blanket and puts it on Nathan’s shoulder to calm him down.

It keeps him from murdering Fargo on the spot, but he’s still fuming. Jack isn’t too happy, either. Both men are deeply private and go out of their way on a regular basis to keep their personal affairs out of the public eye. To be interrupted at such a private moment, in a place that should for all intents and purposes be a safe space, is a gross violation. Nathan is visibly angry, Jack appears visibly violated, and though they’re doing a good job of covering it up, both men are clearly scared.

Allison breaks the silence. “I’m happy for you Nathan.”

Her tone is gentle, kind, and utterly sincere.

“You, too, Jack.” She smiles. “You’ve both been dancing around this for so long, it’s nice to see you doing something about it!” She laughs, light and easy, and something in Jack relaxes.

Henry steps up and claps them both on the back, friendly and non-threatening. He steps back just as quickly, mindful of their state of undress. “My friends, together,” he muses. “That’s really wonderful. You deserve each other, and I mean that in the _best_ way possible.” he says laughing, all good-natured and joyful.

Jack finds his voice, “Thanks, Henry.” He offers a genuine smile and loses a little bit of the poised tension in his shoulders – he knows there will be some sort of disasterous news coming, but it’s not going to be about _them_ , and so with his friends’ blessings given, he lets himself relax from high alert back into his regular state of wary.

Nathan, however, is still fully braced for attack.

Fargo has finally lowered his accusing finger, but has replaced it with an outstretched PDA instead. Thankfully, before he can take the picture, Henry snatches it out of his hand.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” he asks, angry on his friends’ behalf. “This is a _private_ moment, Fargo. This is their private business. You have no right to take _photos_!” He spits the last part and pockets Fargo’s PDA. Allison quietly spins Fargo around and gives him a push. “Wait outside,” she says, and it comes out quiet, but her tone is fierce. Fargo goes, hurrumphing all the way.

“We are so sorry about this,” Allison says, turning back around. Henry looks regretful as well, and keeps sneaking glances at Nathan, who still hasn’t moved or said a word.

“The town needs you,” Allison explains, “and you weren’t answering your phones…”

“And now we see why,” Henry says, wryly trying to break the tension.

Jack shrugs his acknowledgement with a smile, but Nathan doesn’t even so much as quirk his lips.

“Nathan,” Allison says quietly, “it looks really good on you. But I understand this is something private that you share with Jack, and Henry and I would never dream of saying anything about it.”

Finally, Nathan lets out the breath he’s seemed to be holding the whole time, and the shoulder muscles underneath Jack’s palm finally lose a little bit of their tension.

“And we’ll make sure Fargo doesn’t, either,” Henry assures Nathan further.

“Thank you,” Nathan says. The syllables come out stilted, but sincere. “I appreciate that more than you know.”

“We love you, Nathan,” Allison says, and Henry nods. “We all do.”

Henry takes a gentle step forward. “You’re not alone. Don’t make the same mistake I did in thinking that you are.”

Nathan nods, seemingly a little choked up.

“We care,” Allison says, all kindness. She holds open her arms, “Can I give you a hug?”

Nathan grouses for a moment, but it’s obvious how much he wants one. “Yeah, okay,” he says. Jack smiles as Nathan and his ex-wife embrace as friends, as family.

“You too, Jack,” Allison smiles and holds out her arms. Jack steps into her embrace and has to hold back a few tears of his own.

“You’re really something, Allison Blake, you know that?” he says.

“I know,” she smiles.

“Not to interrupt this very touching moment,” Henry says, “but we do have a town to save.”

“Oh, right, yes!” Allison says, switching back to business. “We’ll give you guys a few minutes to switch gears and get dressed, you can meet us out front when you’re all set. Henry and I will brief you on the way.”

Then Henry looks at Nathan. “I’ll send Fargo home for tonight, and make sure he understands.”

“Thank you,” Nathan says, nodding solemnly.

“Hey,” Henry jokes, “I know a little something about keeping secrets.”

‘That you do, Henry,” Nathan says, “that you do.”

Later, after all has been put to rights, they learn that Fargo was under the influence of a scientific experiment gone awry, compromising the judgment and impulse control centers of his brain. He apologizes profusely to Nathan, and Nathan accepts it, knowing that above all else, Fargo is deeply loyal.

* * *

A few weeks later, they tell Jo and Zane at a dinner party hosted by S.A.R.A.H. With Jack’s encouragement, Nathan goes into the bathroom when they arrive and switches out his spacer for his nose ring.

Zane grins wide when he sees it. “Killer nose bling, man!”

Jo swats him and takes away his drink.

But Nathan just smiles, “Thanks, Donovan,” he says, and moves on.

“It brings out his eyes,” Jack says proudly, and puts an arm around him.

Zoe covers her eyes from her place on the couch with a plate of pizza and three textbooks. “It does,” she says to Nathan kindly, then turns to Jack and continues, “but Dad, _ew_ , okay?”

“Sorry,” he laughs, and kisses Nathan just to spite her. Both Jo and Zoe protest loudly.

“Okay, okay,” Jack laughs, and wrestles himself and Nathan into seats at the poker table S.A.R.A.H. had set up for them to play.

“Remember,” she says, “we aren’t playing for real money. That would be gambling, which is illegal.”

Zane rolls his eyes, gets comfortable in his seat, and grins, eyeteeth gleaming. “Let’s play.”

The scene devolves into a tournament between Nathan and Zane, with Jo and Zoe rooting for Zane (Jo out of loyalty, and Zoe out of spite), and Jack and Allison rooting for Nathan. In the end, Nathan turns out to be a very good poker player, and Zane is left to play up his kicked puppy eyes with Jo. All in all, it’s a lovely night, and since Zoe is heading out for a late-night study session at Pilar’s, Nathan sleeps over in Jack’s bed.

It turns out the mattress really _is_ as amazing as Jack has always said. Nathan sprawls, flat on his back in his boxers, nose ring out and proud with Jack Carter curled up against him.

It’s the best night’s sleep he’s had in years.

In the morning, when they get ready for work, Nathan stands in front of the mirror and replaces his nose ring with the spacer. He looks sad. Jack comes up behind him and says quietly, “You really see yourself that way, huh?”

Nathan doesn’t insult him by pretnding not to know what he means. “Yes,” he says simply. “It’s me.”

Jack tucks his chin over his boyfriend’s shoulder. “You should wear it to work sometime,” he says. “You’d look good, and I think it would be good for you.”  
“I hate taking it out,” Nathan says quietly. “I know it seems stupid, but it’s…”

“It’s how you see yourself on the inside,” Jack finishes for him. “I get it, Nathan.”

They lapse into silence for a while as Nathan tucks his nose ring into a flat travel case and slips it into his breast pocket.

“Everyone deserves to be seen for who they are, Nathan,” Jack whispers. “Including you.”

* * *

They keep things under wraps for a while longer. They’re both high-profile figures in town, and it would be a tragedy for their relationship to turn into gossip fodder before they even got to figure out if what they had was on solid ground. So they keep the news close, telling only their closest friends. When they invite an in-town-for-the-week Taggart to the bunker to tell him, they find that somehow, he already knows. “Could smell it on ya,” he says, tapping his nose. “An Australian can always tell. Keen senses, ya know,” he says, right before tripping over a chair leg and crashing face first into the couch. “Congratulations, the both of ya!” he intones, popping up like nothing happening. He wins three of the five games they play, with Nathan taking the other two. He gives both men and all the rest of the group bone crushing hugs, and leaves with an open invitation to attend their get together anytime he’s in town. Later that night, Nathan and Jack laugh when Zoe points out that for all his observational skills, Taggart completely missed the fact that Nathan has taken to wearing the nose ring around the bunker now.

* * *

For their three month anniversary, Jack and Nathan have dinner together at Café Diem. They’ve kept their relationship private until now, but it’s been long enough that they’re sure of what this is. So when Jack reaches across the table to grab Nathan’s hand, Nathan decides to throw caution to the wind and uses Jack’s outstretched hand to haul him across the table and kiss him in front of Vincent and all the world.

Vince drops the tray he’d been holding, spraying Peruvian soup all over the counter. Everyone goes still for a moment, then Zane starts whooping and pretty soon the whole Café is joining in.

“Love you,” Nathan whispers quietly in the chaos.

“Love you, too,” Jack answers, elated.

* * *

Five months after that, Jack nearly dies. It takes both Nathan and Henry to pull him out, with a computer assist from Zane and Fargo working together. Jack is laid up for weeks, and Nathan is beside himself. He tells Zoe first. She just smiles and hugs him, hard and long. “Yeah,” is the only word she says. Nathan cries a little. Next, he tells Allison. It only seems right. “Oh Nathan, I’m so happy for you!” she says, and throws her arms around him, right in the middle of her office, not caring who might be watching through the glass windows. “If you need anything, let me know,” she says. “I will,” he replies, smiling with his eyes. Then he goes to work.

* * *

One month after his talk with Zoe, Nathan Stark mounts the steps to Global wearing an impeccably tailored navy blue suit jacket and tight blue skinny jeans. His shoulders are broad, his waist is neatly nipped in, and his powerful thighs and impressive ass are on display for all to see. His hair is artfully arranged, and he’s wearing a crisp white dress shirt that brings out the brightness in his eyes. Each stride is accented with a pair of long-tipped, dark leather brogues. There’s a blood red tie around his neck and matching pocket square neatly folded in his breast pocket designed to accentuate the _piece de resistance_ … a red titanium nose ring in his right nostril that seems to gleam and glow with his every move.

The overall effect is devastatingly sexy, and jaws drop as he moves through the rotunda.

He swings the keys to his BMW back and forth between his fingers as he walks. Catching sight of Zane across the hall, he winks as Zane salutes. Allison does a double take from her office, then smiles. He was gorgeous on any given day, but Nathan Stark in love and dressed exactly how he wants to be is utterly magnetic. Beside her, Fargo babbles without any real speech as they watch Nathan cross the rotunda. He stops just in front of Jack, who is there with Jo to talk with one of the security officers. Seeing the look on Nathan’s face, both the security officer and Jo take a step back. Jack stops midsentence as he catches sight of Nathan in his full glory. But Nathan doesn’t stop. He walks right up to Jack, steps right into his personal space, and just when Jack instinctively starts to close his eyes and tilt his head for a kiss, Nathan sinks to the floor on one knee in front of him.

“I love you, Jack Carter,” he says, tone clear and joyful. “Will you marry me?”

Jack is trying valiantly not to cry, so it’s difficult to speak, but he does manage to force out the word.

“Yes,” he says, and then Nathan is surging up and Jack is grabbing his face and they’re kissing in front of all of GD, including General Mansfield, who is standing just behind them, having just arrived for a briefing.

They turn around and Nathan stiffens for a moment, before shrugging.  
“General,” he says, and he keeps his chin high, nose ring out and proud.

“Gentlemen,” Mansfield says, and lingers on Nathan’s appearance for just a minute. Then he looks between them and smiles a small, military smile. “I believe congratulations are in order,” he says, and shakes both of their hands warmly.

Allison comes down and leads the General away, and Jo guides the security guard off to the side to finish their business, as everyone in the vicinity applauds politely before returning to their work one by one, leaving Jack and Nathan to their moment.

“Very handsome, Nathan,” Jack says quietly.

“Right back at you, Sheriff,” Nathan returns.

“We should celebrate,” Jack says, clearly still in shock.

“We should,” Nathan says, “but first, we’re missing someone.”

“Dad!” Zoe runs out from behind a pillar and throws herself at Jack, then turns and embraces Nathan, too.

“I’m so happy for you,” she gushes, and hands them both flowers.

“Come on,” she tugs at their hands. “Café Diem is all ready for you, and tonight, there’s an engagement party at the bunker. Come on!” she tugs again, bouncy and excited.

“Wait,” Jack says slowly, “You knew?”

Zoe rolls her eyes, “Of course I _knew_ ,” she says. “Nathan asked my permission last month. I’m the first person he told about it,” she declares, clearly proud.

“Love you,” Nathan says, and Jack realizes he’s talking to Zoe.

“Love you, too,” Zoe says, and kisses him on the cheek.

Then she kisses her Dad, too, and steps behind them to shove them both out the door.

“Go, _now_!” she says. “Celebrate! Jo and Allison will take care of things here, and I’ve got a party to finish putting together! Go!”

And so they do, joyfully stepping into their future together, hand in hand down the steps of Global and into the world. Nathan’s red nose ring glints in the late afternoon sun, and as Jack holds his hand over the gearshift, he thinks that all is right with the world. Disasters will come, as they always do in Eureka, but today, this moment, is just for them. As Nathan drives them – a little too fast – towards Café Diem and the champagne and treats awaiting them there, Jack can only feel grateful for everything that’s brought him here, and excited for all the adventures yet to come.

The End.


End file.
